Houston gets an A+ on list of best cities for millennials

Houston gets an A+ on list of best cities for millennials

What’s one of the best metro areas in the nation for millennials? It's Houston, according to a new ranking from apartment rental marketplace Apartment List.

Houston shows up at No. 9 on Apartment List’s ranking of the country’s best metro areas for millennials. The company graded the 75 largest metro areas in the U.S. in three categories — jobs, affordability, and livability — to calculate a score for each place.

Houston earned an overall letter grade of A-plus, thanks largely to its high numerical score for its thriving job market (No. 9 out of 75 metro markets), with a millennial unemployment rate of 6.4 percent; affordability (27), with a median monthly rent of $1,015 and where 64 percent of the millennial population can afford the median home; and livability (33), as a place with opportunities to date and make friends.

“Many metros score high in one or two categories, but few metros offer the ideal mix of a strong job market, affordable rent and home prices, and high livability scores,” Apartment List says.

San Antonio leads the ranking of Texas cities, placing fourth overall among all major U.S. metros, with Dallas at No. 13 and Austin at No. 17.

Austin posted high scores for jobs (72) and livability (82), but took a big hit in the affordability category (22). Apartment List says Austin and other millennial meccas like Denver, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle garnered low scores for affordability.

“Despite strong job markets and high livability ratings, rents in these metros are too expensive for many millennials, and homeownership is far out of reach for most,” Apartment List says.

Pittsburgh holds the top spot in the rankings; with Provo, Utah, at No. 2; and Madison, Wisconsin, at No. 3.